MHS plans Grad Night bash; grant from DA to help fund event

Friday

May 23, 2014 at 3:44 PMMay 23, 2014 at 3:44 PM

Melrose High School graduates will be sent off in style this year, thanks to support from the Middlesex District Attorney's Office and from community members.As the Free Press has reported, a group of parents have been planning the city’s first-ever Grad Night celebration — designed to provide the new grads with a fun, substance-free event on the night of commencement.Last week, a major boost was announced for the project. Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan’s office will help fund after-prom and graduation-night events in 12 school districts in the county.Melrose is one of the recipients, earning a $500 stipend to help fund the fun."With prom and graduation season upon us, this is a fun and exciting time of the year for students and their families," Ryan said in a written statement. "We want it to be marked by wonderful celebrations and terrific memories that will last a lifetime, not by a preventable tragedy. We support our schools’ efforts to organize substance-free post-prom and graduation events to ensure everyone has a happy and safe time as they celebrate this important milestone and all that they have accomplished."The DA noted that many teens are hurt or killed every year in alcohol-related incidents on prom and graduation nights, and that car crashes are the leading cause of death for young adults between the ages of 15-19.Melrose is not exempt from this problem. According to the city’s 2013 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 19 percent of MHS students who completed the survey said they’d been in a car within the past 30 days with someone who had been drinking alcohol.These kinds of statistics prompted the Melrose Grad Night Committee to organize the new event.The committee members offered their thanks to Ryan and her office for the stipend. The committee has also received support from other community members and businesses. However, the group still welcomes donations, chaperones and volunteers to make the night special — visit melrosegradnight.org for more information.Graduates can check in at 10:30 p.m. on graduation night, Friday, May 30. The event continues for seven hours. There will be food all night at this luau-themed party.Some of the drop-in activities offered to the Class of 2014 will be: a Velcro wall, inflatable sumo suits, a mechanical surfboard, casino games, a photo booth, a caricaturist, a cash booth, a tarot card reader, a DJ, beach-themed movies played on a loop, and some surprises for the grads. In addition, there will be a musical headliner at 1 a.m. in the auditorium.Breakfast will be served at 4 a.m., when there will be drawings for some raffles with big-ticket items.—By Lisa Guerriero